Postgame Blog

Odds and Ends - May 31

2007-05-31T15:29:00.000-07:00

I wanted to start by thanking everyone who has sent in emails or left comments on the blog. We appreciate the feedback.

Yesterday I got an email from Steve who wrote...

You guys keep referring to Kouzmanoff as a "rookie" as he plays for the Padres. At the same time talk about his first major league hit last year with the Cleveland Indians being a grand slam home run on the first pitch. How can he now be considered a "rookie" if he played for the Cleveland Indians last year?

Steve, here is your answer from Page 355 of the Padres Media Guide

A player shall be considered a rookie unless, during a previous season or seasons, he has (a) Exceeded 130 at-bats or 50 innings pitched in the Major Leagues; or (b) Accumulated more than 45 days on the active roster of a Major League club or clubs during the period of a 25-man limit (excluding time in military service or time on the disabled list)

I hope that clears that all up for you Steve. Again, thanks for taking the time to write and please keep the questions coming. We are working on an email link where you will be able to email me directly very soon.

I wanted to post a few notes about Chris Young's dominance over the Pittsburgh Pirates after last night's strong start. C.Y.'s career line against Pittsburgh now looks like this.

3-0 0.76 ERA 17 K 5 BB 7 H in 23.2 IP.

That's pretty ridiculous. Here are some other notes.

Chris has pitched in all or parts of 24 different innings against the Pirates. He has allowed no-hits in 18 of them
Last night's bottom of the 6th was the first time in Young's career that he has allowed multiple hits to the Pirates in the same inning.
Of any pitcher with at least 20 innings pitched against the Pirates in this decade, Chris Young has the best ERA at 0.76. Amazingly, under the same criteria, the pitcher with the worst ERA is one of the guys the Padres traded to acquire Young. Adam Eaton. He has a 9.74 ERA against the Pirates over that stretch.

Seattle Pilots Jersey

2007-05-20T13:52:00.000-07:00

For those of you who were watching on Sunday and heard Mud talking about the sweet Seattle Pilots uniforms, this is what he was talking about.

In addition, Matt and Mud were talking about the hat with the "scrambled eggs on the bill." Just like this one.

For a complete look at the history of Seattle Pilots/Mariners uniforms, head to the online exhibit on the Baseball Hall of Fame's website.

The Magic of the Shillela....Nevermind

2007-05-15T21:09:00.000-07:00

Mud broke out the sheillelagh tonight for the 9th inning trying to get the Padres a victory but even the best laid plans don't work out sometimes. Still, the Pads need to push across a run here tonight and get a much needed win against the Reds. What do you, the Padre fan, like to do for good luck when the Padres really need a run? Let us know in the comments.

A Looper...You know, a Pro Jock

2007-05-12T16:08:00.000-07:00

Tonight, Braden Looper is pitching for the St. Louis Cardinals.

Mud's act is nothing if not predictable.

With those two statements in mind, I am posting this preemptively, hours before first pitch, to explain what Mud is talking about when it comes to Braden Looper. When the name "Looper" is said aloud, Mud will say something about a "pro jock." What does this mean? Well, in case you haven't seen Caddyshack, here is Bill Murray's famous monologue about caddying.

So I jump ship in Hong Kong and make my way over to Tibet, and I get on as a looper at a course over in the Himalayas. A looper, you know, a caddy, a looper, a jock. So, I tell them I’m a pro jock, and who do you think they give me? The Dalai Lama, himself. Twelfth son of the Lama. The flowing robes, the grace, bald… striking. So, I’m on the first tee with him. I give him the driver. He hauls off and whacks one - big hitter, the Lama - long, into a ten-thousand foot crevasse, right at the base of this glacier. Do you know what the Lama says? Gunga galunga… gunga, gunga-galunga. So we finish the eighteenth and he’s gonna stiff me. And I say, “Hey, Lama, hey, how about a little something, you know, for the effort, you know.” And he says, “Oh, uh, there won’t be any money, but when you die, on your deathbed, you will receive total consciousness.” So I got that goin’ for me, which is nice.

70's Retro Day

2007-05-12T14:58:00.000-07:00

I know, I know...I didn't dress up for retro day. I tried to make amends for it by throwing on the retro wig along with intern Kerri. The Award for best costume among Channel 4 employees went to Steve Quis in a landslide. If you didn't catch his white leisure suit on the Honda Dealers Pre-Game show, well, you missed some TV magic.

The bigger story last night was the performance of Jake Peavy as he made history with another double digit strikeout performance. Here's the Elias Sports Bureau to fill us in...

Jake Peavy had at least 10 strikeouts while throwing no more than seven innings for the fourth consecutive game. He's the only major-league pitcher since 1900 to have of at least 10 strikeouts in no more than seven innings in four straight games.

No pitcher has had four straight double-digit strikeout games regardless of his number of innings pitched since Randy Johnson did it for the 2004 Diamondbacks.

In addition, we now know that Peavy likes pitching in throwback uniforms. Last year on May 6th he went 6 strong innings against the Cubs while wearing a Padres uniform from 1948. Between the PCL uniforms and the 1972 Padres look from last night, Jake Peavy is now 1-0 with a 0.69 ERA while wearing throwback uniform. And that's the kind of hard hitting analysis you'll find on this blog.

Longest Name in Baseball History

2007-05-10T14:01:00.000-07:00

Sorry there haven't been any posts in the last few days. I've been fighting with a health issue that is, thankfully, resolved.

Reader Ryan Morse asked that I post the "All-Long Names" Team that was on the broadcast May 8th in honor of Braves Rookie Jarrod Saltalamacchia.

ALL-LONGEST LAST NAME TEAM (min. 11 letters)

P William VanLandingham
C Jarrod Saltalamacchia
1B Frank Catalanotto
2B Red Schoendienst
SS Nomar Garciaparra
3B Lance Blankenship
OF Carl Yastrzemski
OF Juan Encarnacion
OF Jermaine Allensworth

Big Thanks to "Chyron Bob" Wehrsdorfer who does a great job creating many of the charts like this that you see on the broadcast.

Also, Ryan, you requested an email link on this page. That is something that we are working on and hope to have up soon.

Time to Shake it Up

2007-05-01T19:08:00.000-07:00

The Padres haven't been hitting lately and when the players have to deal with a team-wide slump, they do some crazy things to try and break out of it. I talked with Mud about it and he brought up some of the following things.

Don't Shave
Change something be it your shoes/shirt/way you wear your pants/bat/pre-game meal
"Wake up the bats" by slapping around all the bats in the bat rack

And last but not least, if you have the right type of team or pick the right guy, it might be time to play a prank. Mud told me the story of when he was in the Giants organization. When he was playing for the AAA Phoenix Firebirds, he was part of a bad team. When they were on a losing streak, Mud went along the locker room with a few other teammates and left some presents for other players. He left a plate in front of the locker of a wild pitcher with a note saying 'this is a plate, can you find it?' He wrapped the glove of an error prone middle infielder in foil to joke about ground balls clanging off his glove.

It probably hasn't reached that point for the Friars yet, but if the bats stay silent and guys continue to press, sometimes laughter can end up being the best medicine.

Everything at Chase Field is Half Off

2007-04-26T18:32:00.000-07:00

Um...you guys want to get a technician out there? I took this photo about a half hour before game time and half of the roof here at Chase Field is not working. Are we going to have to play with the roof closed even though its a nice night here in Phoenix?

Update - They did fix the roof about 10 minutes before 1st pitch.

Mud not Mudd

2007-04-26T14:47:00.000-07:00

You might be wondering, why is there a picture of ladies shoes on this blog? Well, Mark Grant asked me to tackle a very important subject to him. His name.

Mud has read some of the comments and wanted me to address the way his name has been spelled. Many of you have offered comments and suggestions to or about "Mudd." Our own analyst wanted me to pass along that his name is "Mud" while "Mudd" are jeans.

So, Mud wants to remind everyone, "when you think Mudd, think great fittin' jeans...."

"...and when you think Mud, think one great guy."

Yes that's a direct quote. As always, sorry.

The Magic of the Pointer

2007-04-25T19:01:00.000-07:00

Before we get into tonight's post, a quick response to a recent comment. As always, thanks for the comments and keep them coming.

Love the stirrups on Cruz Jr. Whats up with the nickname you guys call him? What does it mean and stand for? Love you guys. Cheri

By Cheri, At April 23

Cheri, the name that Matt and Mud call Jose is Cheo (pronounced Chay-o). Mud asked Jose about it and he said that it is a nickname for anyone named Jose. Just like the nickname for Eduardo is "Lalo," for Jose its "Cheo."

The theme of the post tonight is the pointer. If you've been watching the telecast, you saw Matt use one of these beauties to point at Mud's sketch for entry in the t-shirt contest. This all started when I bought one of these when I was a spotter for Matt during an NFL game. I never made it to the game thanks to some winter storms and it stayed in my bag for the entire winter. During spring training I pulled it out a few times and its the kind of stupid funny thing that we love. I know some of you are reading this thinking "you guys? Stupid funny? No way...you're yankin' my chain"

Mark Grant has fully embraced the pointer and bought one of his own. It really has taken on a life of its own here in the booth. I asked Mud about the pointer and he said "I love the pointer! It's awesome!"

When I asked Matt about it, he shook his head and muttered something about hating us all.

Hopefully all of you at home have seen one of the pointers up in the booth as it is one of the silly things that keeps us sane up here over the course of the long season.

The Humidor Effect

2007-04-20T16:09:00.000-07:00

Tonight Matt and Mud arrive in Colorado for their first look at Coors Field in 2007. If you watched any of the broadcasts from Denver last season, you probably heard about how scoring was down dramatically at "Coors Canaveral" in 2006. While this might be a welcome change for the guys in the booth, the sudden drop in scoring seemed rather suspicious. Conventional wisdom shifted blame to the humidor which is run by Rockies engineer Anthony Cowell. Even a quick glance at last year's numbers tell an interesting story about the Rockies pitching staff.

There were 12 shutouts at Coors Field in 2006 between the Rockies and their opponents. The previous high was 6 shutouts in 1997
The Rockies posted their best team ERA in franchise history in 2006 with a 4.66 ERA.
Three of the six best seasons by Rockies pitchers (measured by ERA) came in 2006.

People took notice around the league and the first to speak out was Jeff Cirillo of the Milwaukee Brewers.

Cirillo, who played two seasons in Colorado pre-humidor, agreed the Rockies have better pitching now, "but at the same time, does that mean the rest of the league has better pitching, also?" Cirillo suggested shenanigans with the humidor could account for the dip in scoring and the decline in home runs at the ballpark that used to be known as "Coors Canaveral" for all the baseballs that were launched into the seats. "The other thing, too, is what if the Rockies get behind by a lot of runs in a game? Say they break out the non-humidor balls, you know
what I'm saying?" Cirillo said.
- AP - Aug 2, 2006

After these comments, scoring returned to normal levels at Coors Field

In the 54 games before Cirillo's comments, teams playing at Coors averaged a combined 8.96 runs per game
In the 27 games after Cirillo's comments, teams averaged 14.25 combined runs per game

Seems a little suspicious doesn't it? And it brings up a greater question about the humidor. Is it necesary to alter the baseballs in Colorado to reduce the effect of the altitude on the game? Be sure to leave your opinion in the comments section as we'll be tackling this issue all series long.

The Friendly Confines

2007-04-16T17:42:00.000-07:00

The Padres are at Wrigley Field tonight and that means Matt and Mark are at their favorite ballpark in the big leagues.

I asked them for their 3 favorite parks in the game and this is how their lists go.

Matt
1) Wrigley Field
2) Safeco Field
3) Dodger Stadium

Mud
1) Wrigley Field
2) Fenway Park
3) PNC Park

This is always a fun topic to debate so let us know in the comments. What are your favorite parks? How do you feel about Matt and Mud's lists?

YOGURT WATCH 2007

2007-04-13T19:55:00.000-07:00

Here is what I'm going to be looking at all night. Mud always crushes the free frozen yogurt in the Dodger Stadium press box. Tonight, through 4 innings, Mud is working on his 3rd frozen yogurt. Check back throughout the night as I keep you loyal readers updated on "YOGURT WATCH 2007"

UPDATE - Mud has moved on to Hot Dogs here in the 7th. He is stuck on 3 yougurt's

UPDATE 4/14 - Mud is through 2 yogurts at the end of the 2nd inning. He is ahead of last night's pace. Make sure to check back later as you've seen Mud finishing up yougurt #2 on TV. I'll make sure to track this stat along with many others as the Friars are up 6-0.

Has Hockey Suit Been Retired?

2007-04-10T20:21:00.000-07:00

For those of you who are faithful Channel 4 viewers, first of all, thank you. Second, what has happened to one of the biggest catch phrases from the broadcast? I forgot to put and over/under number on the number of times Mud says "hockey suit" on The Official Matt and Mud Prediction post.

Is anyone else wondering where "Hockey Suit!" has gone? Has it gone the way of an in-shape ? I know I know, that wasn't very nice. I know Mud has a legion of fans out there.

Stirrup Mania

2007-04-09T19:41:00.000-07:00

If you're watching the game tonight you'll probably notice that Jose Cruz Jr. is wearing his pants high and the 70's style stirrups. In fact he's wearing them the way his Dad wore them for the Astros.

You don't see too many players wearing that style of stirrups anymore as they opt for the lower arch or the solid sock

Still, up in the booth, we love the players that wear the classic stirrups. The picture of Kevin Millar is pretty good but its nice to see a player with Jose Cruz Jr., the son of a Major Leaguer, showing some respect to the style of the past. Even if it is with the way he wears his stirrups.

Former Friars Return

2007-04-08T13:37:00.000-07:00

If you're watching the game today, you've seen Steve Finley leading off in center field for the Rockies. He's the first player in Major League history to play for every team in a five team division. In this age of player movement, we see familiar faces in strange uniforms all the time. For example, Luis Gonzalez doesn't look right in Dodger blue. And even though Steve Finley has been continuing his tour of the NL West, it's been strange to see him in the various uniforms from around the division. With all the ex-Padres scattered around Major League Baseball, who is your favorite former Friar to see back at PETCO Park?

And if you heard Mud doing his best Karen Carpenter impersonation in the top of the 3rd, I apologize. For all of us.

Secret Pop

2007-04-06T20:19:00.000-07:00

If you were listening to the broadcast tonight, you heard Mud hang the nickname "Secret Pop" on Sledge. What do you, the fans, think of the new moniker?

2007 Predictions

2007-04-06T10:40:00.000-07:00

Before we get to the predictions, a little bit of housekeeping. I will do my best to keep up with the comments and answer questions where I can. So, before I get to the 2007 Matt and Mud predictions, I wanted to address a comment from Sandy and Jim.

We still cannot figure out why the San Diego Padres let Dave Roberts go? He is such a fire cracker. He can get the game going, usually gets on base, loves to still bags and gives the opposing pitcher grief, makes great catches, and has some wheels. And if this is not enough, he has a great attitude. Wouldn't every team want a player like that, especially San Diego?

I think all Padre fans agree that Dave Roberts gave the Friars two very productive seasons. While I see the points that you make, here is what the Padres would tell you about that decision.
- Dave Roberts turns 35 years old in May and signed a contract with the Giants that will end when he is 37. This contract is for an average of 6 million dollars a year. The Padres deemed this too much to spend on a player that is getting older.
- The Doctor has a history of injuries. He has never played 130 games in a season. Also, as players get older, they tend to get hurt more often. The Padres didn't believe he would stay healthy enough over a contract of that length.

Sandy, while these arguments aren't the most pleasant to hear, that was the Padres reasoning was for letting Roberts go. On a personal level, it was tough to see him leave because he is such a great guy and clubhouse presence. Only time will tell if it was the right decision.

And now, on to the 2007 Matt and Mud Predictions
These predictions aren't going to be the typical prognostications. We aren't tackling who will lead the team in hits or home runs. We're going to address some of the things that you know Matt and Mark for and just how often they will happen. Feel free to give us your over/under predictions in the comments in addition to your own categories. Now on to the completely unscientific forecast.

Number of times...
- Mud says "if he hits it, it's a double" after a replay of a check swing - 148 times
- Matt sings as his home run call - 2
- Mud references a double/double inning - 46
- Matt screams "SANTA MARIA!" - 31
- Mud references the "Magical Shillelagh!" - 78
- Matt gets on Mud for begging on ball and strike calls - 101
- Director Tom Ceterski uses one of his flag shots - 83
- Matt or Mark bring up a look-alike - 241
- Matt brings up Mud's nutritional habits (this includes calling him "Leon") - 52
- Mud brings up Matt's penchant for gardening - 29
- Matt calls Mud "Coco the Clown" - 54

And now, let the predictions begin.

The Giants Mechanical Man

2007-04-04T21:15:00.000-07:00

For those of you who don't remember what Matt was talking about in the bottom of the 7th inning, here is a picture of Rusty, the Mechanical Man. For those of you who do remember him, you'll remember that he had his share of problems.

Opening Day Is Here!

2007-04-03T11:48:00.000-07:00

There is no way you can call yourself a baseball fan and not have a little bit of a hop in your step when opening day rolls around. It’s just not possible. Even people who have been around the game for a long time, like Matt and Mark, feel a very real excitement on opening day.

Matt and Mud are up in San Francisco trying to get ready for the first game of the year as I write this. It is a day where preparation is very difficult because this is a day to also renew relationships. There are so many people that you bump into on every opening day that you haven’t seen since last season, it’s easy to lose two hours just catching up and telling stories. While that is usually in the press box, before the game Matt and Mud got a chance to head down to the Giants clubhouse and check in with “Padres north.” From new manager Bruce Bochy, to new center fielder Dave Roberts, the Giants have several faces that are familiar to Padres fans. Think a little about how many former Padres are in a Giants uniform this year, you might be asked a question about it later.

More importantly though is that opening day really does feel as magical as broadcasters make it out to be. Even though they are doing their job, the fan inside of Matt and Mark can’t help but come out on opening day. Especially when the Padres are two-time defending NL West Champions.

Have a great season everyone.